


First Love and Lost Friend

by kittykatknits



Series: Twenty Years of Summer [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Jon and Sansa Are Not Related, Jonsa Summer Challenge, Starklings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 16:41:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11490459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittykatknits/pseuds/kittykatknits
Summary: Sometimes friendships formed in childhood aren't so easily kept. It's a hard lesson for Sansa to learn the year Jon meets his first love.  Jon later realizes the same thing when he discovers the little red haired girl in pigtails has moved on.





	First Love and Lost Friend

Sansa applied a final coat of lip gloss before tossing her hair and sliding on her new pink sandals. She had given up the pig tails and ugly tennis shoes two years ago and did not miss either of them. With a quick yell to announce her departure, she dashed out of the house, bolting to the familiar cabin next door and knocked.

Jon’s mother opened the door, there was no sign of him behind her.

“Is Jon here?” Once, Sansa would have been bouncing with excitement to see her best friend after so long but that was back when she was just a little girl. Sansa stood still, patiently waiting for an answer.

“Oh, Sansa, I’m sorry. He drove into Last Hearth to pick up a few things for me. I’ll let him know you came by.” Her voice was apologetic.

Summoning her most confident smile, Sansa asked Mrs. Snow to tell him she came by. She turned away, crestfallen, to slowly return home. After waiting a couple hours, Sansa wandered down to the corner store by herself to get some ice cream, eating it on the lake side dock as they had in years past.

It was after dinner that night, as the Starks sat about the outside bonfire, that she saw Jon striding towards them. He greeted the rest of her family before taking a seat in the grass next to her.

He wrapped her in a quick embrace. “Hey San, sorry I missed you earlier today. My mom needed me to get a few things.”

Not wanting to show Jon she was hurt by his absence, Sansa flashed him her brightest smile. “It’s fine. We can hang out tomorrow, get some ice cream.”

“Sounds like fun.”

Suddenly remembering, Sansa grabbed his arm with so much excitement that Jon almost lost his balance. “This is the last summer the local drive-in theatre will be open here. You can drive now, would you want to go? My parents would let me if it was with you, I know they would.”

He looked away from her, not answering. A sense of misgiving began to grow. “I can’t,” he said awkwardly. “I met a…friend earlier today and I’m going out with her tomorrow night.”

“Oh. I hope you have fun, I’m sure she’s very nice.” Sansa’s stomach began to hurt. She had a horrible feeling this wasn’t the last time they would have this conversation.

The next week, Sansa watched her brother Robb and Jon through her bedroom window as they got into his car to go into town that night. Jon had introduced Robb to Ygritte’s friend Val a few days earlier and the four of them had been spending a greal deal of time together since. Yesterday, they had gone horseback riding and today, the four of them went inner tubing down Last River. Now, it was a double date. She had not been invited to any of it.

Sansa wanted to go visit the dock by herself but knew she would not be allowed out at night alone. Instead, she turned on her CD player and lazily thumbed through some of the fashion magazines she’d brought with until it was late enough to go to sleep. Her brother had not yet returned home.

A week later, Sansa could see the four of them together on the dock from the cabin’s backyard. Making a decision, she asked her mom’s permission to go see them.

Catelyn Stark hugged her, trying to provide some comfort. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I’m not sure your brother would want you there, honey.”

Sansa ignored the sound of pity in her mother’s voice. “Jon’s my friend, he’ll be glad to see me.”

Feeling determined, she marched towards the dock, hearing the conversation and laughter even from a distance. They grew quiet as she approached. Sansa’s courage began to seep away.

Robb rolled his eyes. “Go away.”

Sansa looked at the two couples huddled together, facing her. Ygritte had a smirk on her face. Jon did not so much as glance in her direction, making a careful study of his shoes.

“Mom wanted me to tell you to make sure you lock the car doors before going to bed tonight.” It was the first lie she could think of.

She turned abruptly, fleeing away as quickly as she could. Safe in her room, Sansa opened her bedroom window to spy. As the night went on and the sky darkened, she quietly sat and watched them. Sansa knew she was losing her best friend. Once the cabin grew quiet and lights began to go out, she crawled out her bedroom window.

She felt dreadfully wicked as she snuck back towards the docks, Sansa had never done anything like this before. Walking as quietly as she could, Sansa spied Jon and Ygritte sitting together. It was dark out but the light above illuminated them enough so she could see they were kissing. Sansa was also pretty sure Jon had his hand up the other girl’s shirt.

Moving away before she was spotted, Sansa returned to her bedroom window and climbed back inside before crawling into bed. It was some time before she could fall asleep.

Two days later, Sansa hid in the hallway as her mom opened the screen door at Jon’s knock. She heard his muffled voice asking for her.

“I’m so sorry, Jon, Sansa isn’t feeling very well today. She asked me to keep any potential visitors away.”

She did not wait to hear the rest of the conversation, choosing to escape to her room instead. A minute later, her door opened and her mother entered.

Sansa fell into her mother’s arms as soon as she on the bed next to her. She could not stop the tears that came over her.

Catelyn began stroking her hair. “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

“He was my friend and I don’t think he likes me much at all any more.” Her nose sniffled. Sansa had known this would eventually happen. Jon would not want to be her friend any more, especially when there were older girls he could kiss on.

“Jon’s a boy, they can be fickle. Look at Robb.”

That only made her crying worse. She didn’t know what to say, choosing to let her mom hold her until her eyes grew red and her voice hoarse.

The next day, Sansa had the idea of taking her younger brother Rickon for ice cream. As they sat together eating it, she could see Jon watching her from the window of his cabin. She pretended not to notice.

The summer passed and soon enough it was time for Sansa to return home to Winterfell. As she placed her suitcase outside to be packed up, she saw Jon approaching her.

“Can I talk to you?”

Looking about, she did not see anyone who could rescue her. She nodded. They walked together towards the water.

“What did you want to talk about?”

Jon rubbed the back of his neck. “We didn’t get to see each other very much this summer.”

Sansa wanted to tell him it was all his fault, she was not the one who had decided they were no longer friends. “We were both busy,” she said calmly.

“You’ll be back next year though, right?” Sansa thought he sounded hopeful but she did not let herself believe it.

“My family comes here every year, I don’t have much of a choice.” She gave him a stiff smile and held out her hand. Sansa hoped her meaning was clear, she did not want to hug him. “Good bye Jon. Maybe we will see each other next summer.”

He took her hand briefly before dropping it. “Bye, Sansa.”

She walked away, not looking back. Sansa tried to look as dignified as she could. She was fifteen now, not a little girl any longer.

*****

The next summer, Jon saw the cabin next door come alive with activity. He saw Bran and Rickon run towards the lake, laughing together. He waited for Sansa to come over and get him as she always did, but Sansa did not show.

That evening, he saw the Starks have another one of their great fires in the back yard. A part of him wanted to go and join them as he had every previous year, but Sansa had not come over. Jon knew a hint when he saw it.

The next day, Jon wandered over to the Stark property when he spied Robb alone by their car.

“Hi.”

“Oh, hey, Jon. Good to see you again,” Robb answered, suddenly noticing him.

His stomach twisted from nerves. “Is Sansa here? I didn’t see her when you guys arrived yesterday.”

Robb did not answer right away, giving him a look that Jon realized was pity. “She’s not here this summer. Sansa begged my mom to let her spend it with her friend Jeyne.”

“Oh.” His breath left him. “Not at all?”

“Nope, I don’t think so. Why do you care? The two of you barely even spoke last year and she’s just a little kid.”

Sansa wasn’t a little kid, she was his friend who had rescued him when he’d been a lonely boy so many summers ago. “If you talk to her, will you let her know I said hello.”

Robb put his sunglasses on, he had the same light blue eyes as Sansa. “Yeah, sure. I know I’m only a consolation prize but we should hang out this summer. This place is kinda boring, if you haven’t noticed.”

He grinned. “Not the worst consolation prize I’ve ever gotten.”

As the summer wore on, Jon missed Sansa terribly. A part of him suspected she was not there because of him. He was becoming great friends with Robb and it turned out they would likely be attending the same university after graduating from high school. But, Sansa was special. She was the one who had listened to him talk about his father and kept all his secrets.

The idea of coming back to Long Lake without Sansa there filled him with dread. A part of him wanted to tell his mother he was getting too old to come to a lakeside cabin every year but it was a family tradition now. The days and nights passed and the summer finally ended. Sansa never came.


End file.
